The recent surge of interest in fitness and health which has swept much of the United States as well as a number of countries throughout the world has generated great interest in physical exercise and equipment used in conjunction therewith. One of the more dramatic trends in such exercise equipment has been the departure from exercise equipment and devices which tone the overall body generally in favor of apparatus which specializes in or is directed to a targeted body area or muscle group. To meet this need practitioners in the art have produced a variety of exercise devices, many of which operate as relatively complex mechanical mechanisms utilizing traveling weights for resistance and multiple cable and pulley systems to couple the body motion to the resistance weights. Most of such equipment is relatively elaborate and has thus far been developed and used primarily in commerical settings such as spas, health clubs, athletic training rooms and the like. Manufacturers have attempted to provide lower costs multiple use replicas of such commercial apparatus or use in a noncommercial or home setting. However, notwithstanding these attempts, most equipment has remained relatively complex. One of the more uncomplicated and relatively direct exercise devices to have emerge in recent years which is directed at specific muscle group is embodied in a product manufactured and marketed under the trademark Abdomenizer which has enjoyed great success and which is directed at strengthening the frontal abdominal muscles of the user. This device comprises a generally curved member having a concave upper surface and a corresponding concave lower surface together with upwardly extending side portions. The user positions his or her self within the device in a sitting position upon the concave surface and resting upon the convex surface. Thereafter, the legs are extended usually touching the floor while the abdomen is curled and the user's body assumes a slightly upward seated position. Once so positioned, the user simply rocks back and forth across the convex outer surface and in so doing exercises the abdominal muscles.
One exercise need which has not been effectively addressed here to date is the need for a simple device for exercising the lower back and buttocks muscle groups. While the above-mentioned commercial health club equipment does permit the exercise of such muscle groups, its high cost, cumbersome size and difficulty of use renders it less accessible than desired for the average exercise enthusiast.
Therefore, there arises a need in the art for an inexpensive, uncomplicated and easy to use exercise device which is directed at strengthening the lower back and buttocks muscles of the user.